When Nightmare's Become Reality
by Merlin-Herondale
Summary: Loki decide's to attack New York during a blizzard. The Avenger's are called into action. But when Caption America get's trapped under pavement, in the cold dark, are the memories to much to handle? Can Tony get to his friend in time? When Tony loses hope in the world, will he hang up the suit or will he be reminded of why he does what he does? *I do not own The Avengers*


It was a full blown blizzard on December 17 when Loki showed up in their beloved city once more to create chaos. The Avenger's where doing things on their own when they were needed in action. Tony, Bruce, Clint and Natasha were chilling at the Stark building. The two assassins were drinking hot chocolate when they heard JARVIS tell them to 'suit up' as Tony programmed him to do so. Bruce and Tony were in the lab doing petty experiments that did not bring them any useful information, only fun. Tony immediately ran over to the platform telling JARVIS to activate the suit. Bruce watched as Tony transformed into Iron Man before he ran down the steps to the main living room. Clint had just snapped his bow open and slung his sleet of arrow's over his back once Bruce made it down the final steps.

"Loki?" Bruce asked the two other men in the room.

Clint made a face "who else would it be? Santa Clause?"

"Well Christmas is in a few days, Santa could be making sure his sleigh is working properly." Tony chimed into the conversation as Natasha entered the room.

"Not now Stark." she said as she loaded her guns. "Hawkeye call Cap and Thor, make sure they know Loki's in town."

"Uh I'm pretty sure Thor already knows" Tony stated as he grabbed Hawkeye and flew to where there friend was already fighting his brother.

"Need a lift?" Bruce asked Natasha with a smirk so big he hoped Natasha wouldn't kill him later for it.

No longer did the Hulk frighten Natasha. She remembers the time the Hulk tried to kill her on the flying boat, but she was always so willing to face her fears. "I would love a lift." was all Bruce heard before the other guy took control.

The Hulk grabbed Natasha and jumped through the glass Tony was so proud to put up. "He's going to kill you for that later Bruce." Natasha said as she held on to the big green guy for dear life. A laugh escaped from the Hulk as he put Natasha on the ground as gently as he could, below the building Hawkeye was on. The Hulk then jumped up and flew over to where Loki's giant robotic monkey's were attacking civilians. Natasha was already in action, not shooting things, but pulling damsel distresses out of flipped over cars, damaged buildings, and sending them away from the action.

The snow was blinding and freezing, but the five Avenger's kept on going. Steve was still nowhere to be seen but then again you could only see six feet in front of you. Natasha had just finished pulling out a bus load of kids when Hawkeye's voice was heard in her ear.

"Nat you gotta get off the ground, the robotic monkey's are ripping the streets apart." his voice was harsh and worried, yet still kind and calm at the same time.

"Rodger that Hawkeye, once these people are moved I'll come join you."

"Rodger that Nat." his voice was more calm when he heard Natasha was going to actually listen to him.

The Hulk was doing the best he could to keep the robotic monkey's secluded to one area, though not even the great Hulk could keep all of them trapped. One was headed right from Natasha, Hawkeye saw the thing headed for her, he warned her as he shot arrow after arrow trying to stop that thing.

The snow was blinding him just enough to cover the action down by Natasha, he knew he should stop shooting seeing how he could be hitting her without realizing it, but he was never one for reason when his friends were in danger. He heard a loud clink just as the Hulk came running around the corner to save his friends from the robotic monkey's they learned could only be destroyed by the Hulk, Thor and Iron Man.

"Nat are you okay?" Hawkeye asked as a sigh escaped his lips once the Hulk had killed the machine.

"Yes Hawkeye I'm fine, thanks to Cap."

Caption America was helping Natasha with the last bit of civilians as he chimed into the conversation. "Sorry I'm late guys, this damn blizzard blocked my invitation to the party."

Natasha's voice bombed though the headsets "My invitation didn't say 'party', it said 'Loki'."

"Nat, Nat, Nat" Hawkeye's voice was heard next "always with the 'this isn't a party' references during battle."

An annoyed voice broke their conversation apart. "Will you three please shut up!" Tony's voice screamed at them. "Some of us are trying to save the city and stop Loki."

Before any of them could respond to that the sound's of splitting pavement bombed over the city.

"The roads are splitting apart! Run!" Hawkeye's voice yelled at Natasha and Cap to book it the hell out of there. They ran to the building Hawkeye was on, they were two feet away when the ground below their very feet started to crumble. Without hesitation, Cap pushed Natasha off the road and into the closed door. She opened it and ran inside, arm outstretched for Cap to grab it. There finger's grazed each other seconds before the ground gave way and Cap fell alongside the bits of asphalt falling to the unknown world below.

"Cap!" Natasha screamed, arm still outstretched. "Cap can you hear me? Cap!" Silence was all the followed her cries of terror.

"Nat, come on up." Hawkeye's voice was a bit shaky.

"No." Natasha said as calmly as she could. "Cap-"

Hawkeye interrupted her. "I know, come on up. There's no point in you falling to. We'll get him, I promise."

A moment of hesitation overtook Natasha before she brought he arm back to her side and backed away. She left the door ajar so Cap could climb through it if he came up. Once she met up with Hawkeye she had her emotion's back in check. Still trying to contact Cap, silence was her only responds.

"Steve!" yelled Tony into his suit. "Rodgers!" he yelled those to repeatedly. Still silence was all that came back.

Loki's laugh echoed through the city as his robotic monkey's number's came down to three. "The Hulk's almost done with his problem." the usual jokes Tony made were no longer on his mind as Caption America was still bringing nothing but silence and worry to the table. "Thor's handling Loki, why don't I pick you to up and bring you to the two demi-gods?"

The two assassins eyes went huge as they looked to each other for comfort. "Sure." Natasha blurted out before she lost the nerve to join the demi-god battle.

"Nat, we could get killed with those to butting heads." Hawkeye's concern was not for him, but for her.

"Hey." She said as she put a hand on his right cheek. "I'll be okay Clint." Then she leaned in to give him a quick kiss before Tony could see.

A smile appeared on Hawkeye's face. "You must think were gonna die if you not only just kissed me, but also called me Clint in battle."

A smile appeared on Natasha's face also as Tony landed next to them, pulling each assassin under an arm. "Hawkeye, we'll be okay."

This time Tony spoke "were all gonna be okay." he said more to reassure himself then them.

"Yeah." Hawkeye said. "I think we all are." And with that Tony dropped the two off as close to the demi-god's as he dared. "I'll go see if I can find Steve, call if you need me." Both Hawkeye and Natasha new better then to ask for his help in the fight, if Tony wasn't staying for the fight, or making joke's and comforting them, then he was really worried.

Instead of flying straight for Steve, Tony went past the Hulk to point him in the direction of his fellow Avenger's. Bruce seemed to make the other guy understand seeing as the giant green guy headed towards the spot where he left the assassins. Tony felt much better knowing he wasn't leaving his team against Loki completely useless. Though Tony knew he should fight, he knew Steve needed him more.

The snow was messing up with his Iron Man suit. He couldn't fly right and it took twice the power to gain enough energy to use his hand beams. He made a note to self to make sure next time Loki decided to attack in snow, his suit would be ready.

Tony was finally at the spot where the Cap went down. Tony dove down and was shoving rock's and road out of the way. "Steve!" he called, still no answer. It was dark, and cold underneath all this road, though it was a blizzard outside. "Steve!" he called again, no responds yet again. Tony kept digging, and digging, and digging.

"Stark!" Natasha called. "Loki got away. Were on our way to you now." Tony didn't answer, he just kept digging. "Tony?"

Natasha asked. "Tony can you hear me?"

Tony said yes to her question then tuned her out. Steve was on his mind. He kept digging and digging. JARVIS was telling him he had been searching for Steve for the past twelve minutes, but he didn't care. "Steve" he yelled again, this time though, he got a responds. Tony's heart filled with joy as he heard a groan coming from somewhere near his right. "Steve!" he yelled yet again. "Steve can you hear me? Steve! I'm here, I'm coming!" Another groan, this time a but louder. Another muffled groan was audible from Cap, which made Tony respond with a "Steve, hey, Steve. I'm right here, I'm here."

"You got him Tony?" both Natasha and Hawkeye asked, probably Bruce to, though he didn't have a headset like the rest of them since the Hulk's ears were too big.

"Yeah" Tony said. "I almost got him."

Tony pulled away the remaining debris that stood between him and his friend. Steve's eye's were closed, his hands clenched against his stomach, his breaths were wild and out of control. "I got you Steve." said Tony. "I got ya." Tony went to grab his friend but the moment he made contact Steve's eyes shot open, his body started jerking wildly, his breaths even more wild, if that was even possible. His screams broke Tony's heart, he backed away a little as he witnessed his friend have a break down in front of him.

"Get away from me!" he screamed. His hands were still clenched against his stomach. Tony removed his helmet and said "Steve it's me Tony, Steve it's just me." It took a moment before Steve's eyes recognized Tony, this broke Tony's heart.

"Tony what's going on down there?" Natasha's voice spoke to his ear, though he chose to ignore her.

Steve was crying, shaking, breathing wildly, clenching his stomach when he finally stopped screaming. "Tony" he whispered. "Tony don't let them freeze me. Don't let them freeze me again."

Tony kneeled down beside his friend and carefully place his head in his lap. "Shh" Tony brushed the hair out of his friends blue, tearful eyes. "I won't let anyone freeze you again Steve, I promise." Tony knew the rest of the team could hear bits and pieces of this conversation, but he didn't care. Seeing his friend like this brought a new kind of pain to his already damaged heart. "Steve." Tony said unsure if his actions would bring about another scream. "Steve I'm gonna get you out of here okay?" By this point Steve's eyes were closed, his breath still ragged and harsh, his hands still at his stomach. Tony could smell the blood, he knew Steve was badly injured, both physically and mentally. He could only imagine what sort of pain Steve might be going through, what those flashbacks must be doing to his mind. Never in his time of knowing Steve, which has been quite some time now, never before has Tony seen Steve look so scared, so helpless. Steve gave no responds, so after a moment Tony picked up his unconscious friend, and flew up to safety.

He saw his friends standing around the hole when he first flew out, though he didn't care. In his arms was an unconscious, wounded, war hero, and friend who just went though his worst nightmares. Tony wasn't going to stop for anything, not even for his friends, not even when the body in his arms started coughing blood. Tony flew Steve straight to the nearest hospital outside of New York seeing as those hospitals will have their hands filled with the civilians. He landed at the emergency door and walked in yelling "Help! Please help!" A tear escaped his eye as a few nurses fan over to them.

"Mr. Stark what happened?" a stranger asked as she tried to take Steve away from him. Tony's grip only tightened on his friend. "Mr. Stark." the same stranger said. "I'll take care of him, I promise. Caption America is in good hands." and with a moment of hesitation later, Tony allowed the strange nurse to take his friend out of his arms. She laid him on a stretcher that was then rushed down the hall. Tony tried to follow but other stranger's stopped him. "I'm sorry Mr. Stark, but you cannot go back there." a male stranger spoke this time.

"The hell I can't!" Tony yelled and yet again the male nurse stopped him.

"I am sorry, but we cannot allow you to go back there, especially in the suit made of iron. It would affect our machines."

Tony understood more than most that his suit had a way with affecting machines that were not programmed to be around the suit. Machines was something he understood in this insane world. He unwillingly shook his head in understanding and stood still as the male nurse said his apologies and walked through the same door's Steve went though.

Tony sat down between an elderly couple and a little girl. Everyone was staring, though he didn't care. his mind was lost in his thoughts. Tony could hear the voices of his team trying to talk to him through his ear, he ignored each and everyone though. The team went to his house to find it empty, they went to S.H.I.E.L.D. to find it oblivious to what was going on, now there searching the hospitals in New York looking for the two boys, but Tony couldn't bring himself to tell them.

Time passed, though how much time, Tony didn't know. He was finally brought out of his thoughts by the little girl examining his arm. Her mother told her to stop it, but Tony just smiled at the little girl, who couldn't be older than five. "What's you name sweetie?" Tony asked.

"Amanda." she was shy, though she didn't take her arm off of Tony's. "Thank you." she said to Tony, by this point everyone in the room was staring.

"'Thank you'?" asked Tony. "For what?"

Amanda looked up at Tony, her hazel eyes staring into his. "You and your friends get hurt a lot, you risk your lives for people you don't know. You could die any day you know Iron Man." At this Tony laughs.

"I suppose I can." Tony was cut off before he could continue.

"Thank you, not just from me, but from everyone. Thank you for fighting the fights we don't wanna."

Tony was trying his best not to cry, but this sweet little girl was thanking him for doing things nobody ever thanked him for. A tear rolled down his check.

"I'm sorry I made you cry." she quickly said. The nurse called her name and her mom apologized once more before taking her away.

"Wait." Tony said. standing up. The nurse, mom, and girl stopped and stared. Tony kneeled before the girl to make eye contact with her once more. "Thank you Amanda." It was her turn to ask what for. "Thank you for saying thanks to me. No one has ever said that before." at this the entire room was shocked.

"Really?" Amanda asked. "I'm sorry Iron Man. You save a whole lotta people and no one says thanks?"

Tony shock his head. "No." he said. Tears now rolling down his face. "So thank you Amanda, for giving me a reason to keep fighting."

Now the little girl was screaming. "You were gonna quit? But Iron Man you can't ever quit! Ever Ever! We need you!." Amanda ran up and gave him a hug. Her voice dropped down into a whisper. "When I'm big and strong I'll be a hero just like you. Then you can quit, once the new people are old enough to take your place. Until then please don't give up Iron Man. Just cause no one ever says thanks, don't mean there not thankful." Then she let him go and gave him a kiss on the check. "Thanks again Iron Man." and she walked back over to her mom, who was standing speechless.

"Amanda." Tony said. "Here." He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down his number. "In case your ever in need of a hero." he handed her his number. A smile appeared on her tiny face.

"Thanks" she said and she clenched the paper tight.

"Mr. Stark." the female nurse said as she walked through the doors. "He's gonna be just fine." With that Amanda and her mom followed her nurse to a back room, and Tony followed his nurse to Steve's room. He was unconscious, but alive. The nurse left and Tony was alone with Steve.

"Natasha." Tony said.

"Tony!" she yelled. "What the hell happened? Where are you guys? Is Steve alright?"

"Yes" Tony replied. "The doctors say Steve is going to be just fine physically, and he's a tough guy, I think he'll be just fine emotionally to." Tony went on informing the team where they were.

* * *

Four days later Steve was moved to the S.H.I.E.L.D. recovery room where he finally opened his eyes.

"Thanks Tony" Steve said, his voice gravely and low.

Tony's eye's brightened up at the tone of Steve's voice, along with Natasha, Clint, Bruce and Thor. "Hey Steve, you're gonna be just fine." Tony said as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Your stomach's badly injured, and your gonna be stuck in bed for a while, but you'll be back on your feet in no time Cap." Clint said.

A smile grew on Steve's face as his friends were around him. "I am sorry I caused you to worry."

"Shut up." They all said, clearly uninterested in Steve feeling bad about being injured saving Natasha.

* * *

It took three day's for Tony to finally be alone with Steve once more.

"Steve." Tony said unaware of how to continue. "How are you?" he decided on asking.

Steve sat up a little bit before answering. "I'm good. I feel a lot better now. "

"No, no. Well I'm glad." stammered Tony. "How are you, emotionally?"

Steve sighed. "I was kinda hoping you forgot about that."

"So you do remember?"

Another sigh passed his lips. "Yes Tony, I remember. I was living my worst nightmare, being trapped under something, in the dark and cold once again. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget." Tony made a face that pained Steve's heart. "Tony. Don't worry about me. It's been what? A week since it happened and I have not had a break down yet. Yeah I get the nightmare's when I close my eyes, but I had those before the ground caved in on me."

"I'm worried about y-" Tony started saying.

"Don't. I am fine Tony. And if I weren't I don't think I could be able to hold it in. I will come find you once my mind cannot take it any longer."

Tony was not convinced, though knew better than to fight with Steve on this. "Okay" he said. "Okay"

* * *

Tony hadn't been home for a week, and he was glad to see his friends all sleeping when he entered the door. A smile appeared on his face as he walked up to his lab. "JARVIS" he said.

"Yes Sir." JARVIS replied.

"Keep an eye on Steve for me."

"Yes Sir."

"Inform me if he seems, distressed at all."

"I will do, Sir. Anything else?"

"Not right now."

"Okay Sir."

With the comfort of JARVIS watching Steve, Tony was able to finally take of the suit he had been wearing since the attack, climb into the bed Bruce had hidden in the lab for when he got tired. Tony feel asleep with ease that night allowing his body to fall into a well deserved slumber.


End file.
